President Kennedy was not so specific on the subject as Candidate Kennedy had been, nor was he as precise as the Democratic platform on “Freedom of Information.” The Democratic platform said:
“We reject the Republican contention that the workings of government are the special private preserve of the Executive. The massive wall of secrecy erected between the Executive branch and the Congress as well as the citizen must be torn down. Information must flow freely, save in those areas in which the national security is involved.”
During the 1960 campaign, President Kennedy made a most forthright declaration on the responsibility of the President to keep the citizens fully informed so that democracy would flourish.
“An informed citizenry is the basis of representative government,” he said. “Democracy—as we know it—cannot exist unless the American people are equipped with the information which is necessary if they are to make the informed political choices on which the proper functioning of the democracy depends. An informed people—able to examine, and when necessary, to criticize, its government—is the only guarantee of responsible democracy.”
As a candidate, Kennedy also declared that the President had much more than a negative duty.
“The President—who himself bears much of the responsibility for the preservation of American democracy—has the affirmative duty to see that the American people are kept fully informed. It is true that in today’s world of peril some Government information must be kept secret—information whose publication would endanger the security of national security—the people of the United States are entitled to the fullest possible information about their Government—and the President must see that they receive it.”
Senator Kennedy said that the “executive privilege” should be reserved for the exclusive use of the President. He added that when information is not restricted by specific statute, security needs, or the Constitution, “there is no justification for using the doctrine of ‘executive privilege’ to withhold that information from Congress and the public.”
On February 4—only two weeks after Kennedy’s inauguration—Secretary of State Dean Rusk wrote Representative Porter Hardy.
“Just a note to let you know that we have not forgotten the question on the availability of records. I am working with our new legal adviser, Mr. Abram Chayes, and hope that he can be in touch with you during the coming week. Let me assure you that we will move on this matter as promptly as possible.”
Chairman Hardy was now optimistic about gaining access to the reports and papers of the International Cooperation Administration programs in Peru and six other Latin-American nations. Three days later, Chayes called at Hardy’s office, and the following day Chairman Hardy wrote a friendly little note to Secretary of State Rusk saying that he trusted the access problem “will be resolved quickly.”